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Smriti Mandhana Roars Back To Form With A Century; Guides India To Series Win vs NZ


Smriti Mandhana after scoring her 8th ODI 100 vs New Zealand [Source: Screen grab from @JioCinema/x.com]Smriti Mandhana after scoring her 8th ODI 100 vs New Zealand [Source: Screen grab from @JioCinema/x.com]

India women are up against the New Zealand women in the third and final ODI of the three-match series. With the series levelled at 1-1 ahead of this game, the match is serving as a series decider. 

The New Zealand women won the toss ahead of the game and opted to bat first. The start of the innings was not ideal for the Kiwis as they were struggling at 88/5 within the 24th over of the innings. 

Brooke Halliday saved New Zealand from a collapse

Brooke Halliday came up with a special effort to rescue the team from pressure. She scored a resilient 86 off 96 deliveries and ensured that New Zealand went past the 200 mark. Lower-order batters like Isabella Gaze and Lea Tahuhu contributed with effective cameos, taking the team's total to a competitive 232.

In reply, India lost Shafali Verma early and were in trouble. However, Yastika Bhatia and Smriti Mandhana stitched together a solid partnership for the second wicket and stabilised the team's progress. The partnership between the two Southpaws ensured that India cruised towards the target. 

Smriti Mandhana held the innings together for India scoring a resilient Hundred

Although Bhatia departed, Mandhana continued her steady progress. Harmanpreet Kaur joined her, and the duo kept the momentum going for India. While Kaur took the attack on the bowlers, Mandhana kept rotating the strike while hitting the occasional boundaries. 

The Southpaw batted with determination and resilience, bringing up her eighth ODI century. With this century, she has equalled Mithali Raj as the player with the most centuries for India in Women's ODIs. However, Mandhana gave away her wicket after reaching the milestone. She fell prey while trying to hit across the line against Hannah Rowe.

Her wicket did not cost India much as they stand at the doors of a series win at the time of writing needing 1 run from 36 balls.